Veraval: On the home-coming of Gujarati fishermen who were recently released from Pakistani jails where they were languishing for more than a year created an emotional scene.

Pakistan as a goodwill gesture had announced to release 360 Indian prisoners mostly fishermen. The first batch of 100 of them with over 80 fishermen from Gujarat and mostly from Gir Somnath region were released on April 8. They had reached Vadodara last evening from where they arrived here this morning in two buses.

When their family members saw them many of them started weeping after hugging them. One of the prisoner who was caught by Pakistan Marine Security Agency (PMSA) from near the Indo Pak Maritime border in Arabian Sea off Jakhau coast of Gujarat almost two years back and was put in a jail in Karanchi where many like him were languishing said that he was very happy. ‘I had lost all hopes of return. It seems like a dream,’ he said.

Many of the family members were also very emotional and were eagerly waiting for the last legal formalities to be completed quickly before the actual hand over . The second batch of another 100 fishermen would be released on April 15 while third of equal strength on April 22 while the last batch of 60 would be released on April 29.

DeshGujarat